imported>Rachhenhang Rai at 10:54, 28 August 2021

2021-08-28T10:54:44Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Tamang
| nativename = तामाङ, རྟ་དམག་ / རྟ་མང་/ मुर्मि
| states = [[Nepal]] [[India]] [[Bhutan]]
| ethnicity = [[Tamang people|Tamang]]/Moormi
| speakers = 1.35 million in Nepal
| date = 2011 census
| speakers2 = 20,154 in India (2011 census)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language_MTs.html|title=Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011|publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|website=www.censusindia.gov.in|access-date=2018-07-07}}</ref>
| ref = e18
| familycolor = Sino-Tibetan
| fam2 = [[Tamangic languages|Tamangic]]
|nation= {{flag|Nepal}} [[Province No. 3]](additional)
* {{flag|India}} [[Sikkim]](additional)<ref name="langoff">{{cite web|url=http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM50thReport.pdf |page=109 |title=50th Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India |date=16 July 2014 |access-date=6 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102211909/http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM50thReport.pdf|archive-date=2 January 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| script = [[Devanagari]], [[Tibetan script|Tibetan]]
| lc1 = taj
| ld1 = Eastern Tamang
| lc2 = tdg
| ld2 = Western Tamang
| lc3 = tmk
| ld3 = Northwestern Tamang (not distinct)
| lc4 = tge
| ld4 = Eastern Gorkha Tamang
| glotto = nucl1729
| glottorefname = Nuclear Tamang
| notice = IPA|
}}

[[File:Nepal ethnic groups.png|250px|right|thumb|Selected ethnic groups of Nepal; [[Bhotia people|Bhotia]], [[Sherpa language|Sherpa]], [[Thakali people|Thakali]], [[Gurung|Gurung]], [[Kirant|Kirant]], [[Rai (ethnic group)|Rai]], [[Limbu people|Limbu]], [[Newar language|Nepal Bhasa]], [[Pahari people (Nepal)|Pahari]], [[Tamang|Tamang]] (note that Kulu Rodu (Kulung) territories are mistakenly marked as Tamu/Gurung territories in this map)]]

'''Tamang''' ([[Devanagari]]: तामाङ; ''tāmāng'') is a term used to collectively refer to a [[dialect cluster]] spoken mainly in [[Nepal]], [[Sikkim]], [[West Bengal]] ([[Darjeeling district|Darjeeling]]) and [[Northeast India|North-Eastern India]]. It comprises '''Eastern Tamang''', '''Northwestern Tamang''', '''Southwestern Tamang''', '''Eastern Gorkha Tamang''', and '''Western Tamang'''. [[Lexical similarity]] between Eastern Tamang (which is regarded as the most prominent) and other Tamang languages varies between 81% to 63%. For comparison, lexical similarity between [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], is estimated at 89%.<ref name="ethes2">[[ethnologue:spa|Ethnologue report for Spanish]]</ref>

==Dialects==
''[[Ethnologue]]'' divides Tamang into the following varieties due to mutual unintelligibility.
*'''Eastern Tamang''': 759,000 in Nepal (2000 WCD). Population total all countries: 773,000. Sub-dialects are as follows.
**Outer-Eastern Tamang (Sailung Tamang)
**Central-Eastern Tamang (Temal Tamang)
**Southwestern Tamang (Kath-Bhotiya, Lama Bhote, Murmi, Rongba, Sain, Tamang Gyoi, Tamang Gyot, Tamang Lengmo, Tamang Tam)
*'''Western Tamang''': 323,000 (2000 WCD). Sub-dialects are as follows.
**Trisuli (Nuwakot)
**Rasuwa
**Northwestern dialect of Western Tamang (Dhading) — separate ISO code. Population 55,000 (1991 census). Spoken in the central mountainous strip of [[Nuwakot District]], [[Bagmati Province]].
**Southwestern dialect of Western Tamang
*'''Eastern Gorkha Tamang''': 4,000 (2000 WCD). Sub-dialects are as follows.
**Kasigaon
**Kerounja

The Tamang language is the most widely spoken [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] language in Nepal.

==Geographical distribution==
''[[Ethnologue]]'' gives the following location information for the varieties of Tamang.

'''Eastern Tamang'''
*[[Bagmati Province]]: [[Bhaktapur District]], [[Chitwan District]], [[Dolkha District]], [[Kathmandu District]], [[Kavrepalanchok District]], [[Lalitpur District, Nepal|Lalitpur District]], [[Makwanpur District]], eastern [[Nuwakot District]], [[Ramechhap District]], [[Sindhuli District]] and western [[Sindhupalchowk District]]
*[[Province No. 1]]: [[Okhaldhunga District]], western [[Khotang District]], and [[Udayapur District]]

'''Southwestern Tamang'''
*[[Bagmati Province]]: [[Chitwan District]], southern [[Dhading District]], western and northwestern [[Kathmandu District]] area and northwestern [[Makwanpur District]]
*[[Province No. 2]]: [[Bara District]], [[Parsa District]] and [[Rautahat District]]

'''Western Tamang'''
*[[Bagmati Province]]: western [[Nuwakot District]], [[Rasuwa District]], and [[Dhading District]]
*central mountainous strip of [[Nuwakot District]], [[Bagmati Province]] (''Northwestern Tamang'')
*northeastern [[Sindhupalchok District]], [[Bagmati Province]]: Bhote Namlan, and Bhote Chaur, on Trishuli river west bank toward Budhi Gandaki river
*northwestern [[Makwanpur District]], [[Bagmati Province]]: Phakel, Chakhel, Khulekhani, Markhu, Tistung, and Palung
*northern [[Kathmandu District]], [[Bagmati Province]]: Jhor, Thoka, and Gagal Phedi

'''Eastern Tamang'''
*south and east of [[Jagat, Nepal|Jagat]], northern [[Gorkha District]], [[Gandaki Province]]

== Grammar ==
Some grammatical features of the Tamang languages include:
*A canonical word order of [[subject–object–verb|SOV]]
*Use of [[postposition]]s;
*The [[genitive]]s follow [[noun]]s;
*[[question]] word [[wikt:medial|medial]];
*It is an [[ergative–absolutive language]];
*CV, CVC, CCV, V, CCVC;

Phonetically Tamang languages are [[Tonal language|tonal]].

==Phonology==

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" |
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]/ [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! rowspan="4" |[[Stop consonant|Stop]]
![[Voicelessness|voiceless]]
|{{IPA|p}}
|{{IPA|t}}
|{{IPA|ʈ}}
|
|{{IPA|k}}
|
|-
![[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]
|{{IPA|pʰ}}
|{{IPA|tʰ}}
|{{IPA|ʈʰ}}
|
|{{IPA|kʰ}}
|
|-
![[Palatalized consonant|palatalized]]
|{{IPA|pʲ}}
|{{IPA|tʲ}}
|{{IPA|ʈʲ}}
|
|{{IPA|kʲ}}
|
|-
![[Labialized consonant|labialized]]
|{{IPA|pʷ}}
|{{IPA|tʷ}}
|{{IPA|ʈʷ}}
|
|{{IPA|kʷ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="4" |[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
![[Voicelessness|voiceless]]
|
|{{IPA|ts}}
|
|
|
|
|-
![[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]
|
|{{IPA|tsʰ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
![[Palatalized consonant|palatalized]]
|
|{{IPA|tsʲ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
![[Labialized consonant|labialized]]
|
|{{IPA|tsʷ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|
|{{IPA|s}}
|
|
|
|{{IPA|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPA|m}}
|{{IPA|n}}
|
|
|{{IPA|ŋ}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|{{IPA|r}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|{{IPA|w}}
|{{IPA|l}}
|
|{{IPA|j}}
|
|
|}

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|- align="center"
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA|i iː}}
|{{IPA|u uː}}
|- align="center"
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPA|e eː}}
|{{IPA|o oː}}
|- align="center"
![[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|a aː}}
|}
Nasality only marginally occurs, and is typically transcribed with a {{IPA|[ã]}} mark.

=== Tones ===
Four tones occur as high falling {{IPA|[â]}}, mid-high level {{IPA|[á]}}, mid-low level {{IPA|[à]}}, very low {{IPA|[ȁ]}}.<ref>Mazaudon (2003)</ref>

== Writing system ==
Tamangic languages use [[Tibetan script]] (Tam-Yig variant). In many situations, however, Tamang is written in [[Devanāgarī]] script.

== See also ==
*[[Tamang]] (ethnic group)
*[[Gurung]] (ethnic group)
*[[Languages of Nepal]]
*[[Languages of Bhutan]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

* Perumal Samy P. (2013). [http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-documents/lsi/ling_survey_india.html Tamang in LSI Sikkim], volume I Page Nos. 404-472. Published by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner,India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
*{{cite journal | author1= Hwang, Hyunkyung |author2=Lee, Seunghun J. |author3=P. Gerber |author4=S. Grollmann | year=2019 | title= Laryngeal contrast and tone in Tamang: an analysis based on a new set of Tamang data | journal= Journal of the Phonetic Society of Japan | number =23.1 | pages= 41–50 | doi= 10.24467/onseikenkyu.23.0_41}}

==External links==
{{Incubator|taj}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080828093538/http://www.tamangsamaj.com/Counting.php Counting in Tamang]
*ELAR archive of [http://elar.soas.ac.uk/deposit/0234 Tamang]
*[http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-documents/lsi/ling_survey_india.html]

{{Sino-Tibetan languages}}
{{Bodic languages}}
{{Languages of Bhutan}}
{{Languages of Nepal}}
{{Languages of Northeast India}}

[[Category:Languages of Nepal]]
[[Category:Tamangic languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Sikkim]]
[[Category:Languages of Bhutan]]
[[Category:Subject–object–verb languages]]

Tamang language - Revision history

imported>Rachhenhang Rai at 10:54, 28 August 2021